#about 75 percent of the time absolutely

[thelaughingmerman]

Merfolk don't usually watch movies. There's no TV in the sea. But if they did, Eugene and Franklin would watch low grade comedy movies and enjoy every second.

[ineffable-endearments]

I keep going back and forth on how much I think Aziraphale understood the Metatron's offer as an implicit threat right off the bat. How much of 'Heaven is the side of Good' was sincere, felt-it-in-his-marrow sentiment, and how much of it was a desperate lie, or a desperate attempt to convince himself that he and Crowley were about to be given what he wanted, or a desperate attempt to harness Heaven's power for his own purposes.

I have kind of shifted to believe, though, that maybe Aziraphale's character development doesn't have to be exactly "learning that Heaven is bad." Maybe it's OK, from a character development standpoint, if he already knows that, at least 75% of the way.

Because I actually think there's something deeper than just "Heaven isn't good" that Aziraphale has to go through: "You can't violate free will even if your intentions for people are one thousand percent good and pure and kind." This is the core reason why Heaven is "irredeemable," so to speak: its whole purpose is to "mess people around," as Adam Young would say. Even if Aziraphale could walk in there, instantly dominate the Metatron, stop the Second Coming, and dedicate all of Heaven's operations to Making Humanity Good, it still wouldn't be okay.

Like, Aziraphale needs to value free will for its own sake, rather than as a means to a Good end. This feels more all-encompassing of both the philosophical conflict between Aziraphale and Crowley and the alarming behavior we've seen from Aziraphale this past season (controlling people's mood and behavior at the ball, for example).

It's also a compelling philosophical conflict because accepting free will for what it really is is frightening. Sometimes you will watch people be self-destructive. Sometimes you will make yourself vulnerable to other people's choices and they could hurt you or your loved ones. Heck, when Crowley had a chance to give a bunch of humans the ability to kill each other to prove a point about human nature, he protected them from themselves!

But on the scale of the whole universe, for free will to work like it's "supposed to," like Aziraphale says out loud it's supposed to (just before Armageddon), it has to be absolute. Having humanity pushed into the middle of a cosmic battle between Above and Below doesn't actually enable free will or any of the other qualities Aziraphale admires in the world of humanity (and Crowley).

Forcing people to choose between two sides isn't really free will.

Heck, even if the Final Fifteen of Season 2 was merely one big miscommunication, a failed bullet catch trick, that in itself could be part of the lesson. Trying to use your power (relationship) to push your loved ones (Crowley) into doing things (becoming an angel again) you believe are For Their Own Good WILL hurt them, no matter how pure your intentions are.

Evil/cruelty in Heaven will be an important part of the main conflict, I think we can say that's obvious, but Heaven's whole...thing is moving people, humans and angels and probably Hell's demons too, around like pieces on a chessboard. The entire mission of the organization would be wrong even if everyone was perfectly well-intended and nobody ever engaged in intentional cruelty and Heaven decided not to destroy Earth after all.

So, while I really can't say I'm confident in making predictions about it, I would find it narratively satisfying for Aziraphale to go up there, immediately know what's going on, and make real trouble for Heaven while still finding lots of compelling ways to grow as a character.

And lots of ways to bumble around charmingly, too. Remember that Aziraphale very smartly figured out something he was never supposed to figure out, the location of the Antichrist, and looked like a complete ding dong (I am saying this in the most loving tone imaginable) the whole time.

[hoziersmicrophone]

meeting ross at a bar in scotland

a/n: i’m bored and this popped into my head lol so enjoy 💕

warnings: implied smut & suggestive flirting

your fingers wiped the condensation off the $16 cocktail that the bartender had just made for you, despite your protests as your friend ordered another round for the both of you.

“i really should get home,” you sighed. you had finished a long week at work and had agreed to one drink, which had turned into 3, which turned into sitting in a bar in the middle of scotland that you had ended up at multiple times before.

“what the hell happened to the fun girl I used to go out with? it’s a friday night!” your friend exclaimed as she took a large sip of her drink, “are you still pissed that you couldn’t get tickets to that damn show?”

you rolled her eyes at her. your favourite band the 1975 were playing at that very moment and you had been unsuccessful in getting tickets.

“of course i’m still pissed. i love them so much and they were playing at a smaller venue this time ‘round and it probably won’t happen again,”

you took a sip of your drink as she gave you a fixed stare before turning back to the bartender,

“can we get 2 shots of tequila?” she asked, ignoring your protests once more, “love, you need it. forget about the ‘75, let’s just have a good night,”

you laughed at her efforts, and eventually caved as the shot was forced into your hand, and the liquid burned the back of your throat, leaving a fuzzy feeling in your stomach that was sure to fight back later.

many many hours had past and the amount of tequila consumed had tripled. the show that you had missed was the absolute last thing on your mind.

you were still sitting at the bar and watching your friend who was attempting to flirt with a guy she thought was cute from where you were sitting.

he wasn’t your type but you admired her efforts and confidence to just walk up to a stranger.

the bar had ramped up in activity and the music was only playing slightly louder. you heard loud cheering coming from the corner with the pool tables and turned before feeling your stomach drop and almost falling off your chair at the sight.

in the darker corner of the bar was ross macdonald, the bass player from the fucking 1975.

you watched as ross lined up the cue, nailing a perfect shot and celebrated by taking a sip of his pint. he was wearing a green t-shirt and black leather jacket, and looked insanely good.

it might have been the tequila talking or the fact that you were starstruck, but you could have sworn he looked over in your direction and smirked slightly.

at this, you panicked and turned in the other direction to where your friend was still aimlessly chatting up the same guy.

trying really hard to focus your attention on the pair, you didn’t notice when the seat next to you was occupied and a voice cut through your attention, flagging down the bartender.

“can I get another one, mate?”

you watched as the bartender nodded and you turned slightly, to see ross sitting beside you with a slight smug smirk on his face.

“what are you drinking, love?” he asked, his voice so deep it sent goosebumps down your back.

“me?” you asked, flabbergasted.

he chuckled, “yea, you,”

“tonight I’ve indulged in mainly tequila and vodka sprite’s”

for the amount of anxiety you were feeling, your words were flowing quite naturally.

“ah, the tequila would explain why you were staring then, wouldn’t it?” he asked, with a teasing smirk plastered on his face.

“i would hardly call what i was doing staring. i watched you make one play, it was merely observing,” you responded, taking a sip of your drink, “you would know if i was staring,”

“oh, would i now?” ross challenged.

you laughed, “one hundred percent. ask anyone, i’m a little too honest,”

“okay then, honesty,” he leaned slightly against the counter and closer to your face, “do you know who i am?”

you nodded, and he continued,

“were you at the show tonight?”

“i was not,” you shook your head, “wasn’t able to get tickets so i came here to drink my sorrows away, believe it or not,”

“that’s a bummer, you missed a good one,”

“is that supposed to be comforting? real nice, ross,” you rolled your eyes. internally, shocked at how forward you were being with your biggest celebrity crush since you were a teen.

“wasn’t meant to be comforting love, but if you had gone you probably wouldn’t have ended up here, isn’t that right?”

“are you trying to say it’s fate that ticketmaster crashed?”

he laughed and took another drink of his newly poured pint. his hand clenched around the glass as he put it back down.

“maybe i am, maybe i’m not. lucky for sure though,”

you cocked your head to the side, “lucky for me, or lucky for you?”

when he didn’t quip back right away, you smirked and took it as a sign to continue your point.

“you were the one who came over here after i was allegedly staring at you, and you might say it was just for the pint, but there’s another bartender further down closer to the pool tables, and i’m sure she would have been happy to assist you. so..” you paused, letting your words sink in.

“so?” he smirked

“so you must find me even the slightest bit attractive or else you wouldn’t have come over here. i would say you’re the lucky one, macdonald.”

“even if i did that, sweetheart,” ross stood up so he towered over you and he leaned down, his breath against your ear, “i’m too damn proud to admit it,”

“with that logic,” you paused, your breath hitching as his glass dripped a water droplet of condensation onto your skin and his eye’s travelled down to your chest, “i may have been staring, but like yourself, i’m too proud to admit it,”

you wiped off the water and watched as he cleared his throat and smirked down at you once more.

“wanna play a round?” he asked, nodding his head towards the pool tables in the back of the bar.

you grinned as you stood up, grabbing your glass from the countertop, “sure thing. wanna make it interesting?”

ross laughed as you started to walk away from him, and towards the pool tables. he pushed in your chair and started to follow.

“interesting how, love?”

you stopped walking abruptly and felt his hand on your waist, spinning you around to face him with his chest being centimetres from your nose away after almost walking into you.

“if i win,” you laughed, “you have to admit that you thought i was hot and that’s why you walked over to me earlier,”

he rolled his eyes but chuckled, “sure thing. not that it’ll happen though. what do i get when i win?”

you smirked before pulling him down by the collar of his jacket, bringing your lips to his ear so that you could whisper and no one around would hear,

“if you win, you get to come home with me and see what i have on under this dress. and i promise, you’ll like it.”

you let go of his collar and pulled away, smirking at the man whose eyes had turned a shade darker than they were before

“deal?” you asked, feigning innocence.

his hand grasped the fabric of your dress as he turned you around to face the pool tables once more and pulled you against his chest before letting go of the fabric and bringing the same hand to rest above your waist.

“you have a deal, love,” his voice muttered in your ear, “but if you’re not careful, we won’t make it home. the bathroom stalls here are fairly cozy.”

you smirked and laughed as you walked away from him once more and grabbed the cue that was lying on the table.

ross shrugged off his jacket and grabbed the cue that was closest to him.

“break,” he said from across the table, a knowing smirk dancing across his face. he had never lost a game of pool ever, and sure as hell was not about to tonight. not with what was at stake.

[kanerallels]

My first contribution to Spring Fling, run by @monthly-challenge!

Day 2: Green

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Pairing: Kanan Jarrus x Hera Syndulla

Had it been any other person, any other encounter, any other voice, Kanan probably would have just brushed it off and moved on.

Bumping into some stranger in the hall of the VA? That was normal enough. Getting around with about 75 percent of his vision gone was something he was still getting used to, and the building was pretty full on an average day.

So when he bumped into someone while leaving a meeting he’d been at, Kanan caught himself quickly. “Sorry,” he said, stepping back to let whoever it was by.

“No worries,” they said— she said. It was a woman’s voice, and the very sound of it rooted Kanan to the ground, speechless.

He’d been alive for 25 years, fought in a war, lost people he loved, and made a variety of highly questionable decisions. And in that time, Kanan had seen and heard a lot, both ugly and beautiful.

This voice? It blew all of them away. Both gentle and firm, with a musical quality that sent warmth through his bones and made his heart skip a beat. It was absolutely exquisite, and Kanan knew, without a doubt, that he absolutely had to know the woman it came from.

She was already walking away, towards the elevator, by the time Kanan recovered enough to come to this conclusion. And by the time he’d started to move or speak or do anything, the elevator door was already sliding shut.

All he’d seen, with what was left of his vision, was a bright, vibrant flash of green.

From a shirt or a scarf, or something else entirely? Kanan didn’t know. All he knew was that the color was burned indelibly into his memory, and that he definitely needed to find out who that woman was.

He took the stairs, but when he made it to the lobby a floor below, the woman was long gone, leaving behind the memory of her voice. Kanan bit back a frustrated growl. Don’t worry, he told himself. If she was at the VA, it was for a reason. Which means I might bump into her again.

So he stayed calm, and headed out. Unfortunately, he was late for lunch with his friend Zeb thanks to his searching. The burly man was waiting in the usual booth at their favorite diner when Kanan made it.

“Oh, thanks for bothering to show up,” he said as Kanan slid into the seat across from him.

“Sorry,” Kanan said with a grimace. “I didn’t think I was going to be that late. But I— got distracted, and then the cab had to take a detour thanks to some accident. Did you order already?”

“I waited like ten minutes, but then I got bored,” Zeb said with a good-natured snort. He wasn’t the type to hold a grudge over one being late. “What exactly distracted you so much you forgot about lunch with your best mate?”

“I didn’t forget,” Kanan corrected. “I just got distracted, like I said.” The waitress approached, and Kanan ordered. He and Zeb had been coming to the diner since long before he’d lost his vision, and the menu was ingrained in his memory.

As were the staff, for that matter, and Kanan frowned as the waitress walked away. “We don’t know her, do we?”

“Nope,” Zeb said, slurping from his drink. “Some Russian kid Quinlan picked up. Now, are you being evasive, or am I going nuts?”

Kanan hesitated, then admitted, “You’re not going nuts. I was distracted by… someone I met. She and I bumped into each other in the hall—”

“Ohhh,” Zeb said, and Kanan didn’t need to see him to know a smirk was stretching across his face. “She?”

“It’s not like that!” Kanan protested, then paused. “Well… it is a little. But it’s not like I had enough time for anything to happen.”

He recapped the incident for Zeb, lingering just a little on what he remembered of the woman. Especially her voice— he probably lingered a little too long on that.

“Right,” Zeb said as the waitress reappeared, carrying both of their meals. “So you fell head over heels for this girl you met one time, and you’re gonna do what about it?”

Kanan shrugged. “Find her, I guess? Thanks,” he added as the waitress set his sandwich in front of him, along with his drink. “How hard could it be? I just need to talk to all the women in Lothal City until I find one that sounds—”

“Like an angel from your dreams?” Zeb said, snickering as he took a bite from his burger.

“I was going to say familiar,” Kanan said, scowling at him.

The man chuckled. “Sure, mate. Well, you’ve got the VA to start with. Maybe ask Piett. He and Veers know everyone around there, and if they don’t know her, they’ll know someone who does.”

“Good point,” Kanan said, his heart lightening a little. Veers was his former CO, and between him and his best friend Piett, they had a handle on pretty much everything that went on in both the VA and Lothal City. (Although it helped that Piett’s sister in law was a state senator.) After their meal, Kanan headed home planning to speak to them the next day.

He didn’t have to wait that long.

While he knew it made him something of a stereotype, Kanan liked to stop at the same diner every morning before work. He’d been going there for years, and the owner, Quinlan Vos, had been close with his mother. So he could usually count on cheap— or free, depending on if Vos’s wife was there— coffee, and a decent breakfast.

What he hadn’t counted on, however, when he stepped inside, was finding someone in his usual booth. In fact, Kanan had been expecting it so little that he’d sat down before he realized someone was sitting across from him.

“Oh— sorry,” he said, starting to slide out of his seat.

“No apologies necessary.”

Kanan froze. That was the voice— warm, slightly amused and curious, and stunningly gorgeous. And, as he gave her a proper look, there was the green. Her hair, by the looks of things. It was unexpected, and fit her well. Really well, he thought.

“Do we know each other?” she asked, her voice thoughtful. “You look familiar.”

For a moment, Kanan couldn’t speak. A long moment, as it turned out, because she asked, “You speak English?”

“Words fail me.”

There was no mistaking her smile, gentle and wry, as she said, “So they do.”

Recover, Jarrus. Pull yourself together. “Um.” Not a strong start. “We, uh, we actually met the other day,” he told her. “Bumped into each other at the VA— literally.”

“That’s right,” she said. “Which is why you sat down next to me?”

Kanan couldn’t help himself— he laughed. “Believe it or not, this is a complete coincidence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it happened. But this is my favorite spot, at my favorite diner.” 

It’s almost like fate, the unhelpfully romantic side of his brain whispered.

He elected not to say that part out loud.

“Well, you may as well stay, then,” she told him serenely. “I’m Hera.”

“Kanan.”

“Nice to meet you, Kanan.”

A smile crossing his face, Kanan said, “Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.”

[lemonhemlock]

I think part of the reason lucemond in particular gets a lot of push back (besides the obvious ick that comes from so many of the lucemonders using the tween actor as a face claim for their erotica only to gaslight anyone who calls them out on this) is that lucemond is a textbook case of the phenomenon of fanon breeding fanon.

I can believe people genuinely like reading and creating lucemond content but what they’re engaging with is literally just fanon.

I’m pretty much convinced that lucemond started out as a self insert ship for girlies who needed an excuse for Aemond to switch to team black but didn’t want to be seen doing the ‘AemondxTeam Black OC’ and accused of making Mary Sues

However lucemond metastasized in hotd fandom circles to include a bunch of headcanons and made up nonsense which has absolutely no grounding in canon. It might as well be an AemondxOC but shippers on the Twitters will argue till their blue that it’s not.

And that is probably what grinds on people — Lucerys is a nothing character in the book, his only role is to serve as a plot device. He is hardly much better in the show with only like 5 minutes of screentime and a page of dialogue. Additionally to a lot of us critics nothing about what we’re shown of lucerys is conducive to shipping with Aemond. I believe you wrote about this before in your anti-lucerys tag, but there is quite literally no reason for Aemond to like him. The only place this ship exists is in their delusions but they’ll nonetheless go on and on about fated fued and how obsessed Aemond is with Lucerys.

On AO3 and Twitter, Lucerys is some perfect Helen of Troy or celebrity it-girl figure. The realm goes to war because of him, and not the literal myriad of other political issues that have broiling for decades.

It’s the way a lot of lucemonders belittle and insult Aemond (particularly show!Aemond who unlike Lucerys actually has a character arc) to hype up Lucerys as this stunningly beautiful universally adored guy (who inexplicably has a vagina 75% of the time). Lucerys is a Mary Sue.

Now if lucemond had stayed in some niche corner of the internet there probably wouldn’t such vitriol but it’s the fact that is got big and overwhelmed the more ‘canon’ ship of Rhaenicent and became the dominant mlm ship for the fandom when by all rights that should have Aegmond or some variation of Viserys/Otto/Daemon for the old man enjoyers. Lucemond has become so big it’s practically unavoidable and the fact that it simply doesn’t make sense raises a number of folks ire.

Antis dislike lucemond and lucemonders because they’re pulling shit out of their ass. They dislike it because it’s more popular than it has any right to be. And they dislike it because it’s more than a little creepy to ship a grown man with an underage boy and insist on decribing him as twink or pretty boy. That’s not a twink it’s a child you creeps.

Now before people come out arguing about breakbones!luke and bottom/omega!aemond lucemond content realise that is a fraction of a percent of what is generally produced, and authors who create that in no way pretend they’re doing anything other than slapping metaphorical barbies together, additionally Aemond isn’t actively maligned in these stories, and older breakbones!luke avoids the obvious issue of this ship being incredibly creepy.

Now I am an advocate for doing as you wish so long as it’s not illegal. Ship and let ship. Don’t like don’t read. But I do sympathize a lot with the anti lucemond crowd and their reasons for disliking the ship but my advice is simply not to engage with them if you can avoid doing so. Firstly it’s just not a good look to get all heated over an intern ship and secondly they’ll probably go away eventually now that there won’t be any fresh content in subsequent seasons of the show. Let them have their delusions while they still can, they’re probably not hurting anyone.

So basically that’s what I think is going on with regard to lucemond and anti-lucemond in case anyone was interested in what exactly this discourse was about.

Cheers

honestly, anon, fair take. as you said, i mainly dislike lucemond bc it doesn't make sense to me why they would have the hots for each other considering their personalities, but especially their past behaviour towards each other. like i just don't buy aemond being in love with the person who maimed him.* the vibes are just not vibing. it wasn't a thing in the past with readers of Fire and Blood and the show doesn't help either bc i just can't ship someone wearing ewan's face with someone wearing elliot's face - the visual discrepancy is way too accentuated

but if lucemonds want to image breakbones luke or whatever, go ahead, it's not taking anything from my pie. i just don't engage with that content. i may rant on my own account from time to time, but that's that. good point re: a lot of pushback lucemond is experiencing is bc fans are baffled this is THEE no1 hotd gay ship (justice for old man yaoi!!!) , but, as you've pointed out, it's just not worth going to war with them over it

the genderbending thing is something that regularly crops up with mlm pairings so it's something to be expected

*i can imagine him being obsessed with the person who maimed him, but lucemonds are so squeamish about producing horror content. the stuff i've seen in that regard mostly involved some version of aemond keeping luke as a literal sex slave (ofc), which was executed too cartoonishly for my tastes

anyway. not my circus, not my monkeys. ✌

[amazingmsme]

(Elpenor Anon)

I crave Elpenor tickle headcanons, but I only have one.

the crew likes to play the rib counting game on Elpenor because 1, he deserves it like 75 percent of the time, the other 25 percent of the time they’re bullies, and 2, he’s the easiest to hold down and do it on. He loves hates it.

can you give me some Elpenor tickle headcanons now 👉👈

Oh he literally can’t stand having his ribs counted, especially when you just know they all mess up on purpose & starts over. & he knows he’s their favorite target because he’s very aware of how much it happens to himself & sees how little it happens to everyone else (except for a few people) & it just makes him so flustered!

& of course you can have some more headcanons! & if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s some headcanons about Polites & Elpenor, & some more Elpenor headcanons

But the rib counting is absolutely killer considering his ribs are one of his worst spots 💀

His other worst spots are his knees, hips, & yes, even his hands

Elpenor is soooo embarrassed that his palms are so sensitive, but it’s everyone else’s favorite thing about him lmao

Odysseus was the one who found out & he’s so proud of the discovery & refuses to let Elpenor live it down

Likewise, Polites found out he has a ticklish back in one of his infamous tickle hugs

For as crazy ticklish as he is, he starts like 75% of tickle fights on the ship. Like he seriously gives Odysseus a run for his money for the title of resident tickle monster

He specializes in sneak attacks & will strike fast before running away for safety, but it almost always ends in a chase until they get revenge

His favorite victim is Polites, & they have tickle fights all the time. But he’s like one of the only ones who can lose against Polites lmao

He’s the baby of the crew so literally everyone wants to tease & bully him. It’s an inescapable fate

These are all I’ve got for now! Hope these can suffice! So happy to see our favorite neglected boy finally get some love

[rigginsstreet]

may I request additional info on your east coast billy? inquiring minds, and all...

hnnnn okay. makes my brain go brrr

i just think there is a high possibility he's got family somewhere in the new york/jersey/rhode island area. i like to believe his mother comes from a big italian family lmao and he's spent enough time around them that he started to pick up on an accent that only really comes out on certain words (this ABSOLUTELY gets thicker when hes drunk and leaves everyone very confused)

if we're going with canon timeline then he wouldve only been around these people for a few years of his life and lost all ties with them after his mom left. (though ive stated previously i like to imagine she has a sister billy still kept in touch with)

but i think he should reunite with them! and if they ever find out what neil was doing.... neils not gonna make it out of that one hes gonna get his ass beat. like god intended. but i digress

all i know is this is east coast billy a million trillion percent

something about the gold jewelry specifically just... the girls who get it get it. also dying thinking about billy taking max and steve to the east to meet his family and he immediately turns into a guido, entire personality changing and steve and max are like "what the fuck is going on who is this ???"

if we wanna talk about a billy who grew up on the east coast? i mean you think hes bad now... like its just billy but amplified by a thousand. the catholicism? through the fucking roof. actively attending mass every sunday. praying to st anthony. the feasts! (ive still never experienced a feast rip to me thats another story). also the east coast is already very take no bullshit, abrasive attitude. so like hes got the personality for it... itd just be so much worse lmao

the hair would be bigger! floofier. well... crispier. the higher the hair the closer to god.

east coast italian billy would be such a mamas boy and like hE ALREADY IS LIKE HIS CHARACTER IS ALREADY SET FOR THIS SHIT DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!! just gotta like change some appearance things and youre ready to go.

you just gotta come from that environment to understand idk you had to be there lmao but i want billy with a big family so he isnt trapped with neil constantly and i want him slathering himself in baby oil while he sits on his little lawn chair out in his tiny patch of grass soaking up the sun while he chainsmokes causing 75 kinds of cancers at once while his nonna is frying up chicken cutlets for dinner these are the things i think about

[one-winged-dreams]

White cat and Persian?

@dearly-beeloved

Gonna go with my Anarch boys for this one (ง'̀-'́)ง

Are your f/o’s eyes particularly striking to you? In what way? Do they find themselves captivated by yours, in turn?

Nines has pretty eyes, but all agree Skelter has the prettiest eyes out of all of us, to which he's like "Oh damn straight."

My eyes are super creepy because they're just constantly reflecting light like a wild animal. Plenty of jokes about it not mattering because my hair is always in my face anyway.

Are you a high or low maintenance couple? Who has the most rigorous grooming routine? Do you help each other?

We're absolutely low-maintenance. I live with Jean but I'll disappear for a week to stay with them (to which Jean is like "oh hey you didn't die" when I come back) and then back to the usual routine. I do spend about 75 percent of my time with them though.

I'm the one with the long hair and they're constantly on my ass about brushing it. Except for when I leave red hairs everywhere. They hate that.

[erigold13261]

Nitpicky anon here again. If, if, the percentage of queer people was actually higher in your NSR universe, why is there so much homophobia and transphobia? (Do ignore this ask if this is annoying) (I hope I don’t sound too mean)

I think I just answered this. You just put it in different words, but I can give another answer since now you are using the word "percentage" which has sparked an idea in me. HERE'S the other answer though so you can also read.

Quick recap though: There's "so much" bigotry because we are seeing it through the lens of queer people. Almost all queer people have seen or been the target of bigotry (from microaggressions to hate crimes). So it just feels like there is a TON of it because it is important aspect of these character's stories. Also the fact that there will always be some kind of hate in the world, both cishets and queer people can be bigots, so homophobia and transphobia will still happen.

Okay, but to go back to the "percentage" thing from your ask. I think you might be under a misconception about just how much queer people are in my NSR universe.

There's no way to know for sure how many people identify as queer in our world. We can't ask everyone and some people who "act queer" might not identify as any kind of queerness even though they could fit under a label (such as straight people who are sometimes attracted to the same gender, or people who are GNC but don't identify as any kind of queer).

There are estimates that about 3-10% of the whole world identifies as queer. Meaning that it could be more with people not asked/do not identify even though they fit the "criteria" for queerness.

What I think you might believe the percentage of queer people in my NSR universe might be anywhere from 75-90%. Maybe more maybe less. And yes, if that was the case, that would be a LOT of queer people and I can see why you might think bigotry should be either extinct or at least a lot less common.

However, I never had the idea that queer people would be the majority of the world population, though still more than our world. So NSR would probably have a population of 25-35% queer people, or somewhere around that percent range. They are still a minority, but still more than what we have.

This is why there is still bigotry and homophobia in the NSR universe. Just like our world, some places are better and safer than others, while others are places to stay absolutely clear from if you even "look" a little bit queer.

Plus, like I said earlier and in the other post, we are seeing these acts of bigotry from the view point of queer people. A cishet person is not going to experience queer bigotry against them most of the time (unless they "look or act" queer) so if we followed Martha or Matvey's life, we would almost never see then experience any kind of bigotry related to queerness. For the most part.

We do see Martha experience transphobia and some homophobia from her family after people learn that Neon is trans. Though it is not directed mainly at Martha. This means that throughout Martha's life, she has experienced FAR less queer bigotry compared to Neon, who is a queer person.

Having a story with a lot of queer people means there are going to be a lot more stories of bigotry to go through than if it was a group of cishet people. It's basically like... selection bias? I think that's the one. Or it might be availability bias?

Either way, the reason why we think there is a LOT of bigotry is because the sample group we have is made predominantly of queer people. So of course it LOOKS like there is a lot of bigotry still happening in the world, as it does happen to queer people.

I haven't watched anymore than one episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, but my queer studies professor has and explained how some seasons get very heavy in the topic of bigotry these drag queens have experienced. Almost all of them have had some kind of horror story to share with each other.

Which makes it look like there is a LOT of bigotry in the world. But that is because we are seeing it from the perspective of queer or GNC people. And yes, any kind of bigotry is a lot, but that doesn't mean that every queer person is absolutely going to experience bigotry because of their queerness. At least not to the same extent of hate crimes and legislation pushed against them.

It's also worth pointing out that, just like the drag queens, the NSR characters come from all around the world. There are going to be some places that are more accepting than others depending on all sorts of factors.

Nova came from a pretty small town but almost everyone was accepting of them because they cared more for them than hated the idea of something new. While Neon lived close to a city that sometimes made it dangerous to be out an proud. Mama was in an upscale community most of the time and a rural area the rest. Both were accepting of her when it came to queerness (though her plant/snake half were not as accepted). And then Tatiana was in a decently sized town/city that basically hated her but her boarding school couldn't give a shit as long as she kept it kinda like "don't ask don't tell" kind of deal.

All of this to say, bigotry is still going to a thing, and it's going to seem like a lot when looked at through the eyes of queer people. Not every queer person is going to have to live their life in constant fear of being hate crimed, but also not every queer person can just come out and be happy with who they are without some kind of backlash.

People can be horrible, especially to people they see as threats, different, or the unknown. So even if there was like 75-90% queer people, that isn't going to stop bigotry. Especially since queer people can also be homophobic or transphobic (and other phobics). There's always going to be a "reason" to hate people that are different than you, all we can do is try to work together to survive and fight back.

[evelyne-am]

18th March 2023

Trying to catch up a bit faster as my thoughts are escaping me when the next day comes. Today one of the group members hasn’t showed up. Another one of the boys. But this time it was mentioned. It has cast a damper on the rehearsal I think. Our exercises, though, are going better because M has joined. Yesterday Sir had told us to take risks. And I took that really seriously, even in the exercises I’m taking a bit more initiative; whereas in the past month in the workshops and previous rehearsals I always hung back and waited.

There is a part of me that enjoys being, for the lack of better word, the most uneducated person in this room. When I was in Mita khalas rabindrasangeet group, I would feel like that, especially because I was one of the youngest. There’s a part of me that likes being a young student. That was my role for 10 years. I was in university from the age of 19 to 29. It’s what comes most naturally to me, taking notes, going to class, listening to instructions. After moving to Bangladesh I became the teacher. Even with people older than me I’m directing, and directing is always fun. It’s a very lonely job. But that’s not the part I don’t enjoy; what I don’t enjoy is that being a director means that it’s full-fledged admin work. The creative part is so little, it’s full-fledged scheduling, budgeting, making calls, basically really far away from the creative part, the skills building.

However, right now I have no other responsibility except to know my character and to know the story. It’s absolutely amazing. I feel pangs of envy for people in my group and other groups that do this full time. Today’s rehearsal was again hard on me. The second half especially because I didn’t sleep much. I’m trying to be super aware and conscious and alert though. On day two I lost my favourite flask, I’m currently borrowing someone else’s and trying to be mindful that I don’t lose it. Yesterday I was walking home and apparently my Mum yelled at me from her car that she was leaving and I didn’t even hear her. Today I lowered the volume when I was walking. I saw mum again and I waved at her.

Sir has asked one thing from us, it is to be present and I must practice that throughout the rest of the day. The rehearsal went okay. Sir is not happy with the pace that he is pushing us. We watched interviews of actual war heroes today and it was really really intense. The exercises we did drew into our personal pains and were equally as intense. The rehearsal room was very quiet today.

The intensity is definitely going. I did get a compliment, I was debating whether to share it with you. My sister said why not. The compliment was that because I am daily one who has no background on this I am the one who is working hardest. I enjoyed this element, but I know it's because I have not shown my hundred percent yet. I am still at 50 to 75. If I can balance out my personal life, have healthy habits, and all the admin work I have to do as a music director, I will be able to do more. I also need to stop doing my bloody social media so much! Who has five Instagrams? Overall we left class a bit low.

I had a couple of hours outside my ‘71 world today and I have to admit it was nice. It was like a bit of rest and I suppose I should have a little bit of head popping out every once in a while. Two hours is a good amount of time.

Oh! In class it was mentioned that we want to create some music from the text; everyone looked at me. And I would say it's a great responsibility and I will work on it at home. And so I did, didn’t sleep early tonight either..

I have been talking to someone about getting a part-time gig, but that would be really loud. I would have to be on social media all the time, even though it would be a couple of times a week and would really pay my bills.(Social media and I have our usual TugOfWar relationship)

I see everyone in the group and this is all they’re doing right now. Maybe I need to do that too. I have some savings that can pull me through the end of the theatre production.

I’m debating if I can do that. PS. I did not go to AniMes’ party at Coke today. It was hard to say no but I was exhausted and I needed to do the music homework. I’m a little proud of myself for being able to say 'no' to that. I also apologised to that person, who as sweet as they are said not to even worry. Sent 3 versions of the music homework and passed out.

[kyousukeyaguchii]

TENNIS MATCH ANALYZATION

Hi I live in Qatar, where sports are big. On February 14, 2023, my family and I went to watch a tennis game held by the QTF (QATAR TENNIS FEDERATION). I'm not a big sports fan, but I'm familiar with a lot of them thanks to anime. I learned their basic rules so that I could understand what I was watching. I'm a Filipino student with no hobbies, and my father is a QTF volunteer. I used to despise going to games and stuff because I was forced to watch FIFA LIVE EVERYDAY WHEN IT WAS HAPPENING, which was a nightmare, but one night while watching I forgot to download my manga and decided to observe the game while writing it down. I enjoyed it and did it whenever I had the chance, though I deleted all of them after FIFA. But because I was forced to attend QTF, I decided to do so in order to relax. Now, I am not a writer or a die-hard sports fan, but I enjoy watching and learning about various sports. This is my first time writing for publication, and I hope you understand my main points. This is just for fun, and all of my observations are my own, so let's get started.

QTF 19:00 

Team 1 (aggressive) (forward but commits many fouls) (40 percent on net) (keen eyes and pinpoint accuracy) (in danger in third round) (I was caught off guard) (75 percent win rate)

Team 2 (defensive) (careful but not forward) (67 PERCENT on net) (tactical and absolute) (becoming aggressive in the seventh round) (65 percent win rate)

FIRST GAME (OVERALL ANALYSIS) (duo)

Prior to attending the event, I had no idea who the players were for. As I previously stated, both teams are equally matched, with strengths and weaknesses. For example, team 1 is aggressive, which could be both an advantage and a disadvantage. They are not afraid to take control of the court, but this leads to them committing fouls, allowing the opposing team to score by default. Team 2 is the tactician, which could be an advantage or a disadvantage. They are cautious and firm, and they use their eyes to spot fouls and score points. If the opposing team wasn't prone to fouling, they'd be in big trouble.

The reaction time is equally match, making them "blunder" for the same mistake after giving the ball back, instead of reacting for a second. In tennis, every second counts, especially in a fast-paced rally. Team 2 likes to spin the ball, which gives them an advantage, but if they use too much force, the ball will jump higher than expected and in the wrong direction. Many people blame the wind for this technique, but I know it takes years to perfect. Team 1 focuses on sharp serves and fast hits to make rallies enjoyable and long.

Now, as I was writing this, my family needed me to do something, so I was interrupted in the middle of my writing and had to stop. So I decided to just finish it at home, but because I didn't know the names of the players, I couldn't find the exact footage. So I'm devastated, but the match was a female duo, and I recall a Chinese player on team 1. I'll do more research and gather more detailed information the next time. I'd like to do my own match analysis, but I'm not sure which specific sports to focus on. I'm interested in boxing. I'm not sure what you think.

UPDATE: as ive heard team one won, and i kinda expected it <3

im new so i really dont know what I'm doing help please

[orlissa]

January reading summary

My one New Year’s resolution this year was to read fifty books in 2023–that would mean 4.17 books per month, just for fun math’s sake. In January, I managed to finish nine. Okay, that’s a bit of a fib, because two of these nine were started back in 2022, and one was read twice (once when I translated it, and once when I proofread the manuscript, but I’m gonna count those too). Still, it’s a pretty strong start. Anyway, I thought I’d do like a monthly summary of my reads, partially to motivate myself, and partially just to review to books I read, because we Leos thrive on attention. So, January reads, here we go:

Richelle Mead: The Indigo Spell/The Fiery Heart/Silver Shadows/The Ruby Circle – I read these right after each other (I started The Indigo Spell on December 31), as a part of my Vampire Academy re-read I started early December, so they kinda bleed together in my mind and I’m not even gonna try and write separate reviews of them. Truth is, I like 75% percent decided to read Bloodlines because I wasn’t ready to let go the Vampire Academy world yet after finishing Last Sacrifice–I just needed more Rose and Dimitri. Sure, there were things I liked in Bloodlines beyond their cameos, like the new magic system, the theme of rebellion against oppressive structures, dealing with parental trauma, and I especially enjoyed the whole re-education sequence in book five (there are very few things more terrifying than psychological torture, and the whole storyline of Sydney not giving up and fighting against it was absolutely fascinating). Still, I couldn’t get into the characters as much as I did with the original series, and, let’s be honest here, the last book sucked. The plot was all over the place, and the author basically fridged two women for a fanservice twist within a storyline with a hamfisted outcome (I mean, as a fan I was very much serviced, but it could have been done in a better way).

John Gwynne: The Hunger of the Gods – This was my translation project, so one of the books I started last year and the book I read twice from this list. As for the book itself… So, it’s a Viking-lore inspired epic fantasy (second in a trilogy) with a huge cast, where warring factions are allying with gods to gain power over the continent called Vigrið. Is it something I would have chosen to read for myself? No, it had way too much blood, eye-gouging, disfigurement, and child abuse in it for my taste (extensive facial scaring of characters has always made me squeamish). Was it objectively a good book? Yeah, sure. There is a wide range of interesting and diverse characters with depth, an exciting plot, and remarkable worldbuilding. Do I manifest the editor stepping on a Lego? Yeah, that too, because on the textual level the book had some issues that had me wanting to rip my hair out. But if you are into hard-core bloody fantasy and Norse lore, yeah, I definitely recommend it.

George Takei – Justin Eisinger – Steven Scott – Harmony Becker: They Called Us Enemy – I read this one in preparation for a course of mine which I won’t be teaching after all. Still, no regrets here (I mean, I’m sad I won’t get to teach this class, but I’m not sad that I read this book). So it’s George Takei’s memoir about his family’s time in internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII, while also dealing with the impact that time had on his later life, in a graphic novel format. It’s poignant and heartbreaking and honest, and really helps to put this segment of American history into perspective.

Ali Hazelwood: The Love Hypothesis – I read this book out of morbid curiosity, because I’ve seen how divisive it is (having started out as a Reylo fic, the author talking about how her agent is feeding her tropes, etc.), and honestly, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Sure, there were icky parts, like it took actual willpower not to try to equate the main characters with Reylo/the actors, and not to try to match the supporting cast to the… well, to the Star Wars supporting cast (which I really needed to do, because I don’t like the new Star Wars, and although he has my absolute respect as a human being, I do not find Adam Driver attractive at all), the author sometimes really went overboard with the “OMG, what an actual giant the male lead is”–gushing, the sex scene had some questionable lines/metaphors, some of the side plots had a distinct fanfic crowd-pleaser feel (like Malcolm and Holden, who I’m pretty sure were originally Finn and Poe, going from “vaguely aware of each other’s existence” to “in a stable, have met the parents, banging like rabbits relationship” in like three days), and the ending was definitely rushed. However, on the other hand it was a fun little rom-com with a witty language and some commentary on sexism and sexual harassment, and although I’m not in STEM, the quips about academia and PhD candidacy really, and I mean really resonated with me. I’m definitely going to read more of the author’s stuff.

Brodi Ashton – Cynthia Hand – Jodi Meadows: My Imaginary Mary – I’m a big fan of The Lady Janies-series, but I’ll be the first one to say that they seem to be running out of steam. Sure, I know this book wasn’t even the original plan – they wanted to do one with Marie Curie, but they had to scrap that idea for some reason, so instead we get Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace –, but still, in some aspects this book falls really… flat. While in the previous books the fantasy element felt like an integral part of the world, here it’s just… there, just thrown in, and the whole “fae godmother” introduction is just lazy writing (literally, a character just appears, brings one protagonist to the other, introduces them to each other, tells them she is their fae, not fairy, godmother, and she is now going to teach them magic. Just like that, in medias res, deus ex machina, and all that jazz). At the same time, Pan is sweetheart, the pop culture allusions are a stroke of genius, and the whole discourse about what is life is nice. So, yeah, the style is great, the message is great, but the plot is meh at best.

[the-firebird69]

We have a couple of things to report

--- We have about 30 people who are out of bounds and they've been out of bounds all day we don't wanna deal with you you're a bunch of jerks very mean to our son and it's time for you to leave and we're going to make sure you leave you're sitting here screwing around with him with the timing of day to day stuff so much so that we have to get rid of you because you're doing that and you're horrible it's absolutely disgusting not to mention you're trying to send it out everywhere and people everybody beats you up that's you idiotic trumpsters and your stashes and caches nukes and cities and other are all cordoned off and you're still proceeding to be huge **** so we're wondering why you're doing it and we found out that we do not want you around this kind of stuff is gonna be ending pretty soon there are some updates to mention ind of stuff is gonna be ending

Stan is not doing well he is flat and we meet it too he is out of commission pretty soon and he is doing very poorly his people can't help him anymore he's running out of stuff running out of time and running out of money very soon he is going to be well past being able to be salvaged and we need it too he is in deep trouble his forces in the Eastern Hemisphere are trying to recover he is out 73% last evening and it held to 70% they doubled their efforts and that's the mac molok And they are attacking again and they are going to level the place they said really they're attacking and striking now and they're going at it very heavily. And there's probably 75% of military areas and paramilitary and concnetrated are out They have called their people again the reason why it's significant is they have been making the bunkers defunct it's not true. It's significant because they've been calling their people and they have not recovered in a week and a half and they're losing personnel they they are down to around 2.5% in the eastern hemisphere. Right now all of the battles over all of the Pseudo Empire area both sides each day is about 0.3% of the population so you can see how it's important in just 10 days the pseudo empire will be completely defeated almost that would be almost two percent if it was just them so really 20 days but this is going to increase.

-- Our son is experiencing about 0.4 rad right now and he says he can't feel anything OK but he is experiencing the medicine being destroyed and it is going in about 1/4 inch it is happening a bit faster than we thought it would which is good he is going to feel better soon maybe in two weeks or even a week and a half but all of it will be out probably mid October at this rate there's still quite a bit of it and he has to recover from exposure right now it's been 0.3 percent twice today and he got exposure and it's coming from only those three small circles and they can recover from one rad a day for quite awhile a few months and that's really what's gonna happen they have to just continue to recover

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[destinygoldenstar]

Golden Analyzes Animated Features (Intro)

“The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for the best animated film. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.”

All my animation homies are salty and segregated by this award.

Seriously, the amount of disrespect for this storytelling medium is insane for ‘the elite Oscar awards for the objectively best works of creativity… as long as it’s live action’.

Next time I hear “How does it feel to work on the animation genre?” I wanna punch that person.

Let me get this out of the way: Animation is not a genre. It is a storytelling medium. It is the home to many creative thought provoking features and stories that have shaped imagination in ways that live action could never.

While I absolutely will not state one is better than the other, that’d be very subjective of me, I think it’s fairly little secret to people who see my blogs that I am an animation buff.

I as a person just cling to animation much more by its colors and routes of storytelling. It’s a subjective thing.

And so is my GF. We’re both buffs on the medium and crave to expand our animation horizons.

Ahoy segregation of animation in the Oscars. “Oh you want to be recognized? Here’s your own little category. Take it and leave us alone so we can talk about REAL movies”

And half the time they don’t even watch these movies and just give it to Disney or Pixar. Where there are SEVERAL animation horizons you could take from.

So that’s what me and my GF are doing. The two of us are watching every Best Animated Feature Nominee and making our own conclusions on the winner of each year.

No we are not the first ones to do it. But we wanted to, to both expand our animation horizons and also give animation the respect it rightfully deserves.

So you’re going to be seeing me posting reviews of these movies on my blog. Then one about what movie I think should’ve won that year.

So you know:

There are two of us watching these movies together. Me and my GF. She’s going to pick a favorite too, and her pick could be wildly different from mine. So there is always a second opinion being put in mind.

We are watching every movie on a separate day. There is no watching one after the other immediately afterwards. There’s a significant time gap between each of these.

We’re doing each year’s movies in alphabetical order. So there is no bias when it comes to what the Oscars picked as the winner being put in mind.

In every post review, I will post a claimer on whether or not we have seen these movies prior to this viewing. Cause that absolutely affects judgement and I wanted to make that awareness. There’s some we have seen before, and others we have not and this will be our first viewing. And of course there’s some I’ve seen but she hasn’t and some she’s seen but I haven’t.

There is zero bias regarding the makers of these movies and where they originate. We are just judging the movies, and whatever drama that went on behind the scenes is not a factor.

So… yeah. You’re gonna be seeing me reviewing some movies for the rest of the year. Interested? Sure. If not… idk what to tell you.

[idledreams4]

I keep thinking about someone all of a sudden. I have no idea why but it started last month. i had a dream about them, then i began to think of them all day.. a few weeks pass and i had another dream about them and sinxe then i keep thinking of them. What should I do?

Well this could be a lot of things. If you're comfortable sending another ask or a DM with more details about the person and what exactly happened in the dreams I'd be happy to really dig in and offer you a more definite answer about what's happening. (fair warning this is pretty long, but do read to the end)

Is it a friend, family member, classmate/coworker, someone you haven't actually met or have only seen passing? (trust me those last ones happen more than you'd think)

If its someone you haven't spoken to in a while, you could try reaching out, saying hi, seeing how they're doing. It might be your subconscious trying to get you to reconnect.

If its someone who you might have feelings for, maybe this is your brain telling you to go for it and let them know how you feel.

If it is someone you've never actually seen/spoken to there are a couple things that could be happening. (I'm assuming this isn't the case, by the way your message is worded I'm assuming that is is a person you know and you're just starting to think about them more frequently then you usually would have, but this is still a possibility)

I'll explain the most likely scenario first, which also requires me to explain how people within our dreams are created.

Its very similar to how an ai would generate a person. Our brain takes the appearances of every person we have ever seen: characters from tv/movies, friends, family, people we pass on the streets. Literally everyone. And it combines their features to create infinite numbers of unique people. Usually they have some flaws, which the dreamer would never notice because their frontal lobe is completely off-line during sleep. But every now and then the brain does a *really* good job of creating one of these people, and they seem real. Our conscious mind doesn't realize that the unconscious did this, so we assume they are, in fact, a real person. When the dreamer wakes up, even if they have no idea what the dream was about, they're more likely to remember a person who seemed particularly realistic just because they would have stood out from the others. (just like how typically you only remember your most vivid dreams)

Even though this person was completely imagined, they could have seemed real enough that you're brain got really focused on them and then because of how much you were thinking about this person they wound up in another dream, this effectively creates a positive feedback loop. (truth be told, even if this is a real person, this could also explain the second dream: it could have been random chance. but we all like to think our dreams have meaning so feel free to ignore this possibility lol)

The absolute least likely possibility, regardless of how well you know the person, is that you had some kind of premonition.

Obviously not everyone believes in psychic ability, I'm not here to try and convince anyone that its real, just offering another possible explanation.

Now I don't know the subject matter of either of the dreams you had, or if you have any history of claircognizance, precognition, or any other psychic ability, but since these abilities can present themselves at any time I won't rule it out.

Contrary to what 90% of the media out there would have you believe, not all premonitions are grim omens and warnings of tragedy, usually they aren't even about significant events. A very small percent actually tell us anything, usually its all pretty mundane. For me, a solid 75% of my premonitions are just stupid conversations I'm going to have with my friends in a few days. So its possible that in one or both of your dreams you foresaw something that's going to happen down the line. It is unlikely, but perfectly possible. The timeline on these things also varies. Whatever you dreamed about could happen in a few days, a month, sometimes its years down the line.

One thing I forgot to mention is if the person you were dreaming about is dead, it's possible their spirit is trying to contact you. The fact you can't stop thinking about them would support this. If this does happen to be the case let me know who they are. I'll either give you some tips to safely communicate with them, or try to reach out to them myself if it'll be too risky for you to do so. If it was a family member or another person you were close to I'm also going to need you to tell me if anything seemed off about them, as well as what the interactions you had with them in your dreams were like. I know that may seem weird and unnecessary, but there are a lot of spirits out there who will take on the forms of a person's loved-ones to get close to them and usually it's for a bad reason. Luckily for you I deal with those types quite regularly, you have nothing to worry about.